Fabian Delph has completed his move to Manchester City just a week after declaring he would not be leaving Aston Villa. With Delph gone this adds a potential £8-million to Tim Sherwood’s transfer budget. Furthermore, Liverpool have activated Christian Benteke’s £32.5-million clause meaning the largest transfer saga so far this summer will soon be over.
With such revenue from the two transfers along with the dramatic shedding of the deadwood this summer it means Sherwood has potentially a healthy war-chest to rebuild his depleted side.
There is no need to mull over losing two of the best players in the team. We hope that Tim Sherwood seriously knows what he is doing with such funds. TVV takes a look at the links that have got fans talking so far this summer and the likeliness of the deals happening.
Jordan Amavi – Nice – £9-million
£9-million for a relatively unknown Frenchman? He may be unknown to the standard football season, but some of the top clubs in Europe have monitored the young left-back. He is reportedly in advanced talks with Villa about a switch to B6. Amavi can play as a traditional left-back as well as being a wing back, giving Villa more defensive solidarity. He averaged the highest amount of interceptions of any defender France last season racking up a massive 147.
Villa are in desperate need of a solid left-back. A move for Amavi has been reported by many media outlets and a deal seems close. Read our full article on Jordan Amavi here.
Andros Townsend – Tottenham Hotspur – £15-million
Andros Townsend has been linked with Villa on a few occasions this summer. Is it lazy journalism linking Townsend and his former manager, Tim Sherwood together or is there more to it than that? The 23-year old made 17 league appearances for the Lilywhites last season, compared to 25 in 2013-14. In an England shirt, Townsend seems a totally different player scoring three times making nine appearances for Roy Hodgson’s side.
Townsend is direct and a traditional winger, but is he what Villa need? Especially for the steep quoted fee for the England international. View our story on the Townsend link here.
Breel Embolo – FC Basel – £10-million
A replacement for Benteke? The Swiss wonder kid has been linked on and off this summer with Villa and could prove to be an exciting deal if anything did happen. Embolo is only 18-years old but has already established himself in the Swiss national side being capped three times. The Basel forward hit 17 goals and provided for 13 goals in 42 appearances last season including in the Champions League.
A similar style to Benteke, Embolo would fit in perfectly at Villa Park. Read our look at Embolo here.
– Roma – Fee Unknown
Gianluca Di Marzio is one of the most credible Italian journalists in the game and he has recently reported that Villa have been in talks with the Roma pair, Mattia Destro, an Adem Ljajic.
Destro offers a raw talent but has gone off the boil in the past year. The 24-year-old joined Roma in 2012. He has featured 57 times for the Serie A side, scoring 24 times. He spent the backend of last season on loan at AC Milan, but he failed to do much. Despite a poor past year, Destro offers energy and the ability to pull defenders all over the place. He could be the perfect compliment for Libor Kozak up front.
Ljajic is a winger or attacking midfielder who scored 8 goals as well as laying on 2 goals in 23 appearances last season under Rudi Garcia. Ljajic is someone with a prowess and proven ability. Is he what Villa currently need though with an abundance of similar positioned players? Di Marzio’s article here about the links.
Other Links Worth a Mention
- Aleksander Milosevic – Besiktas – €5-million
- Emmanuel Adebayor – Spurs – Unknown
- Luke Garbutt – Everton – Loan
- Ludwig Augustinsson – FC Copenhagen – £2-million
